


There's A First Time For Everything

by Book_of_Lost_Tales



Category: The Hobbit RPF
Genre: Cute, Feelings, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2017-12-31 17:12:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Book_of_Lost_Tales/pseuds/Book_of_Lost_Tales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard had always thought of himself as a mature and well-balanced man, who had ticked a decent amount of first-time-experiences off his bucket list. That is, until he meets Lee and he discovers a new side of life.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: I'm horrible at writing summaries, so bear with me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You might have missed me or this story for a bit, but I had some problems with my account. I decided to create a new one, and take the story with me! Therefore the first few chapters have been published before, new chapters will be added soon :)
> 
> Another disclaimer: I do not know or own any of the characters mentioned in this work of fiction. I wish I did, but I have to be honest. Some information comes from interviews or other direct sources of information, all gaps are filled with the produce of my own imagination.
> 
> Also, this is my first work of RPF, and I really hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it :)

Richard had always thought of himself as a mature and well-balanced man, who had ticked a decent amount of first-time-experiences off the so called bucket list of life. He’d had his first kiss from the girl next door at the age of fourteen, he’d first spend the night with another girl at the age of seventeen, and he’d started a relationship with that same girl at the age of eighteen. He had earned a degree in musical theatre, and had since proceeded to make acting the primary source of his income. He had done a few plays, he had appeared on TV, he had played the lead in a well-received BBC costume drama series, and he had even been able to get a role in a mainly American produced superhero movie. Apparently his efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed, since Peter Jackson had cast him as one of the most important characters in a huge trilogy movie with an even bigger franchise, which had led to him moving to New Zealand for 18 months. Also a first, since he had never lived outside the UK.

But despite this rather impressive bucket list, he couldn't help but frowning at his own face, staring back at him from the mirror in his trailer. He was partly covered up by various parts of Thorin (e.g. wig, nose and eyebrows), and he was currently waiting to be called back to set. He was well aware that this was the role of a life time, one where he could put all his enthusiasm and effor in, and so far he had enjoyed immersing himself in the world created by Tolkien. He had spent countless happy hours discussing the character of Thorin with Peter, who was just as enthusiastic as he was about all the different possibillities. He had even managed to establish nice contacts with his fellow dwarves, despite his initial shyness and general awkwardness in meeting new people. The other guys, especially Graham and Ken, seemed all too happy to drag him along when the troup was visiting the pub after shooting a particularly difficult or challenging scene. But something had been nagging him for a couple of days, and he had finally been able to confess the source of his problem to himself.

_Lee Pace._

Lee had arrived in New Zealand not more than a week ago, and both cast and crew had immediately befriended the charming American. The other dwarf actors had already started making good natured jokes about clean, smoothly shaven Elves with long flowing locks that never tangled, paving the way for Lee to make friendly jokes about little hairy food machines that had never heard of hygiene.

Yes, everyone liked Lee from the moment he set foot on New Zealand soil, and Richard had been no exception. However, he soon found his reactions turning into a different direction. From the moment he'd had a conversation with Lee about the troubled relationship between Thranduil and Thorin, Richard found himself reacting to Lee in a very particular way. The sound of his voice, a glimpse of a smile, the heat of his arm when sitting next to each other, everything was enough to make Richard stumble over his words. He'd turn red, get goose bumps, get sweaty hands, or drop things he was holding. On the second day he'd even bumped into something when Lee said hi. To his knowledge no one had noticed anything strange until now, but someone was bound to notice if he kept acting like a loon.

Although it was a bit early, Richard couldn't do anything but admit to himself that he had a huge crush on his fellow actor.

A man.

He was attracted to another man. And he had absolutely no idea how to proceed from here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Richard tries to reason with himself, succeeds, fails, and is a perfect gentleman.

Over the weekend Richard realized a few things.

First, he wasn't bothered by being attracted by a man in itself. He'd felt attracted to other men at several times in his life, as it seemed nearly impossible not to when constantly being surrounded by handsome and witty men. Usually it had just faded away after some time, because he never felt certain enough to actually do something with his feelings for said men.

Second, the thing that did bother him was that Lee was a colleague. And not just a colleague, but a fellow actor he'd have to do some very serious scenes with, and he really didn't want to mess up their chemistry before they had to work together on set.

Finally, he already felt overwhelmed with the current state of his life: training, learning scripts, going through make-up and costume sessions even though they had already started filming, and spending all weekends crashed down on the couch. Having an unwanted crush was just too much for his already stressed mind.

To put his whirling thoughts at ease, Richard came up with a wonderful idea: He decided to make a list with all the reasons why this crush was just the result of an unfortunate chain of events.

1\. He had always been attracted to new things, and Lee being the newest on set made him automatically more interesting than the actors he already knew.

_Yeah, that's a good one._

2\. For the past months, there'd been a serious lack of female company. That is, female company that was not constantly worrying that his eyebrow might fall off, or that he forgot his lines.

_Also not something easily ignored. Testosterone was practically flying around his ears._

3\. It had been ages, even before moving to New Zealand, that he'd been in a proper relationship.

_Sad but true._

4\. Also, he hadn't had sex in ages.

_A bit confronting, but also very true._

5\. Lee just happened to be about one inch taller than him.

_Which is also really ~~sexy~~ new, because he rarely meets people taller than himself. Not really a con for this crush, but he had to be honest, hadn't he?_

6\. The atmosphere on the set. Ever since Elijah Wood had informed the current cast about fanfiction, and erotic fanfiction in particular, there had been ongoing bets about who would make the most succesful couple. And with only men to choose from, it was not the first time that his mind had wandered to unexplored territory regarding his fellow actors.

 _And damn Martin and that Sherlock fanction he'd been talking about._ _If people could already create those stories based on two male characters, what in the world could they do with nearly twenty male characters?_

* * *

 

Confident he had solved his 6 ft 1 problem, Richard arrived on set in a sleepy yet happy mood on Monday morning. He had a nice cup of tea and a chat with Graham while they were bearded and dressed, and they left the make-up chairs at 8 AM. Peter and Andy had thought of some new action sequences over the weekend, so for the next few hours the dwarf cast was running around under the hot studio lights, swinging swords at imaginary enemies. Peter seemed to enjoy himself immensely, and Andy kept shouting directions and clues about the orcs that they were supposed to be fighting.

Richard could feel the sweat dripping from between his shoulderblades all the way to the seam of his trousers. He dodged to the left, and swung his sword to the right. After he pulled his sword back, he spun around to thrust the sword forward in another non-existent creature, before beheading one that was attacking him from behind. He could hear Aidan, Dean and Adam yelling while they were fighting, and the occasional grunt from Stephen and William. Just when his arms started shaking and he was starting to have trouble lifting his sword, Peter yelled 'Cut! Nice job everyone! Get some lunch and take some rest. We'll work on this again tomorrow.'

'That was fun, wasn't it?' Aidan was still practically bouncing as they wandered off set.

'Aidan, if you don't stop skipping around I'll throw ye in that ditch, and I won't leave anything for you at lunch..' James threatened with a devilish smirk. 'How can you still have enough energy to be like this? I feel like I've been run over by something heavy!'

'That's only because Stephen fell on top of you', Dean added with a grin.

'Who're you calling fat kiddo?'

'I never said you were fat.'

'Yeah but you implied it!'

'Please just shut it!' Richard groaned. 'Let's get some food and then we'll have a shower and a beer.'

* * *

An hour later, the troop was well fed and far less grumpy. Richard felt satisfied and slighty sleepy. He hadn't seen hide nor hair from Lee all day - who was probably stuck in some costume fitting session - and the physically exhausting morning had also done loads to relax his mind. The only thing he wanted right now was a hot shower, because he smelt like something left lying in the sun for too long.

Everyone had changed from their costume in sweats and t-shirts, and were now heading towards the showers next to the gym. After a few weeks of trying to cramp full grown male bodies in tiny trailer showers, the group had decided to use to communal showers in the gym for a bit more comfort. It reminded Richard of showering after football practice; lame jokes, easy conversation and a lot of space instead of constantly bumping into the wall.

As the group arrived at the door leading to the showers, they were met by a very sweaty Lee. Richard tried to ignore how Lee's shirt clung to his tall frame, or how his hair was damp and curly at the base of his skull. Lee's eyes widened when James, Aidan and Graham started undressing right in front of him.

'What are you doing?' He asked in a slightly higher tone than usual.

'What do you think, your pointy eared highness? I don't fancy taking a shower with me clothes on.' James replied, while loosening the cord in his sweatpants.

'Oh right, I'll just wait here.' Lee muttered, clearly embarrassed.

'What for?' Piped in Adam, who had thrown his shirt over a bench and was now kicking off his trainers.

'Well, don't you want to... I mean..' Lee's voice faded away, and he turned slightly pink.

'You never showered in the company of other men lad? Just as well, you can always try to cramp yourself in the tiny shower in your trailer. Although you might bump your head if you try to wash your hair.' James answered, winking.

Lee turned even more red and was clearly trying to think of something witty to say, but when he couldn't think of anything he just remained silent.

'Guys, that's enough. We'll just have a quick shower and then Lee can have the place to himself.' Richard felt surprised when he heard his own voice echoing from the shower walls.

Although the others kept grinning, they retreated to the dressing room and shut the door firmly behind them, but not before Graham had clapped Lee's shoulder and muttered some apologies on the group's behalf.

'I'm sorry 'bout that. We had some heavy action scenes this morning and most of us are still a bit high on adrenaline.' Richard muttered, avoiding Lee's eyes.

'It's okay man. I'm just...’ Lee lifted his hand to scratch the nape of his neck, while looking everywhere but directly at Richard. ‘Guess I’m just not used to showering with other guys, 's all. But thanks for standing up for me.' Lee answered, suddenly giving him a brilliant smile that made his eyes sparkle. 'I'll just do some more exercises and wait for you guys to finish. See ya.'

Lee walked away, but not before giving Richard another dazzling smile that made his knees buckle.

_Oh shite. So much for good reasons not to crush on your co-star._


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Richard discovers an unexpected side of Lee..

After their little 'moment' in the gym, as Richard liked to think of it, he had barely spoken to Lee. They were both incredibly busy and the filming of their mutual scenes still hadn’t started yet. Instead Richard was running around in top heavy dwarvish gear for five days a week, while Lee ran from sword practice to dressing room and back. They sometimes managed to wave at each other or shout a quick greeting when they met in the hallway or in the canteen, but that was hardly enough to get to know each other better.

It only got worse when Lee’s fellow elves, Orlando and Evangeline, arrived on set. Richard could often see the three of them sitting together, laughing and talking, and he just couldn't bring himself to ask if he could join them for lunch. He felt like a schoolboy again, complete with unattainable crush.

But despite not talking to Lee himself, Richard started to gather more and more bits of information about him thanks to his inquisitive co-stars. James and Adam always took their time to watch previous work of their co-actors, so they provided Richard with detailed reviews of Lee's performances in "Pushing Daisies" and "Soldier's Girl". Jed had spent some time training with Lee for his sword work, and told everyone who'd listen that Lee did remarkably well for someone who insisted that he'd never handled a sword before.

The most reliable source of information turned out to be Aidan, who spent a lot of time with Orlando, who in turn had spend a lot of time with Lee: he told Richard that Lee liked coffee better than tea, and couldn’t function without the black liquid in the morning. Lee wasn’t really used to his long blond hair yet, as it kept ending up in his mouth while talking or eating, but he did get around smoothly in Thranduil’s long robes, and he really liked the feeling of the sweeping fabrics when he made a quick turn. And finally, Lee did not need a lot of sleep during night, but he liked to nap during the day. Combining all these little facts, Richard started to form a more coherent picture of Lee's character in his head, and he liked to muse over it while waiting in his trailer for the next call to set.

* * *

 

There was also one thing about Lee that Richard discovered in a rather peculiar way.

He was at home on a nice and quiet Saturday evening. The other men had asked him to join them at the pub, even though he had rarely accepted their invitations in previous weekends. After a week of intense social contacts Richard just really needed some space to relax and to clear his mind. Therefore there was a glass of wine on the table, and he had just settled himself on the couch with his Kindle for a lazy evening of reading.

Right after finishing the first chapter of his new book his mobile phone rang.

Richard sighed, but decided to ignore the thing and continue reading.

The ringing ceased after 20 seconds.

Yet before Richard could finish his next page, the phone rang again.

He glared at the phone, waited a few seconds, and started to get up.

The phone stopped ringing again.

Just when he had re-installed himself on the couch it started ringing again, and this time it would not stop ringing.

He squinted at the phone, and let his eyes wander back to the book again. When the phone gave another persistent ring he let out a deep sigh, and manoeuvred himself of the couch, trying to grab his phone from the table without actually leaving his comfortable position. Without looking at the screen, he answered the phone.

‘Hello?’

‘Richard? Hi, it’s Lee.’

 _Lee?!_ Richard nearly dropped the phone. In his attempt to catch it mid-air he nearly fell off the couch, what made it a bit harder to answer in a normal tone.

‘Hi Lee, what’s the matter?’ _Lee had never called him before. Never._

‘Well, I’ve got a bit of a problem. But it's a bit embarrassing..’

Lee's voice sounded distressed and ashamed at the same time, and Richard wondered what on earth could make him sound like that. _Did he get lost? Is he on a unsuccessful date? Did he lose the scripts for next week?_

‘What is it? Is there something I can do for you?’

‘Erm, yeah. You know I promised Orlando to look after Flynn while he and Miranda went out for dinner with Martin and Amanda?’

‘Yeah..?.’

‘Okay. I only said yes because Orlando promised Flynn always sleeps well and never wakes up. But now of course he’s woken up, and he won’t go back to sleep.’

Richard suddenly became aware of the soft wailing noise in the background on Lee’s side of the line. He’d only seen Flynn a couple of times, and he guessed the kid was not yet one year old.

‘Richard? You still there?’

‘Yes, I’m still here, I was just a bit distracted. Anyway, why did you call _me_ about this?’

‘Because I knew you’re the only one not currently hanging in the pub. And because I have no fucking clue about how to handle a crying baby, and I don't know what to do with him! He's been crying for at least half an hour now and he doesn't look like giving up anytime soon.’

Richard experienced a strange mix of sensations from hearing Lee swear, realising he was asking him for help, and finally realising he was going to see Lee tonight. In private. With no one else around.

‘I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Can you manage until then?’

 

* * *

 

Ten minutes later, Richard had parked his car near Orlando’s house and he was approaching the front door. Lee had apparently been on the lookout, because he already opened the door before Richard could touch the doorbell. ‘Thank god you’re here! He’s in the playpen in the living room, still screaming his lungs out.’ Lee looked flustered and there seemed to be some baby drool on the shoulder of his shirt. On closer inspection, there also seemed to be white baby drool in his dark hair. ‘Don’t worry, supernanny’s here.’ Richard gave him a little smirk before entering the living room.

There was a baby bottle on the table, a blanket on the floor, a plush animal on the couch and a very angry baby in the playpen.

‘Let’s pick him up and put him to bed.’ Richard suggested.

‘Can you do it?’ Lee asked, nervously.

‘No, you’d better do it and learn how to handle a baby. Good practice for when you have some of your own.’

‘But I don’t know how to hold him.’

‘You swing swords for practice, but you don’t know how to hold a baby. And you’re supposed to play a father?’

‘Thranduil probably has servants for that kind of stuff.’

‘Lee, just pick him up. Put your hands under his arms, lift him and hold him to your body. Then support his bum and his upper body to be sure, but I think he’s old enough to keep himself upright.’

Lee glared at him, but moved to the playpen nonetheless. He started to lift the baby cautiously, but Flynn decided it took too long and started wriggling in mid-air, nearly causing Lee to drop him again. Richard jumped forward to catch the child and bring him to Lee’s chest. It took a few seconds for his heart to calm down again, before it started speeding up again: he almost nose to nose with Lee, with the baby stuck between their bodies. He could count the tiny freckles on Lee's nose and he could smell the sweet smell of the soft drink Lee had been drinking. The moment was ruined by Flynn giving a little hiccup, causing both of them to look down on the baby and stepping backwards. When they both looked up again, Lee smiled and awkwardly patted the baby on its back.

‘That wasn’t so hard.’ Lee said.

Richard scraped his throat and raised his eyebrow. ‘Thanks, captain obvious. The hard part comes now: change his diaper and put him to bed.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Why do you think he’s crying like that? Haven’t you smelled him?’

‘Erm, I might have tried to ignore that.’

Richard shot him an exasperated look. ‘You Elves are so delicate.’

‘Oh shut it. Let’s just get this over with.’

 

* * *

  
Twenty minutes later Richard and Lee dropped down on the couch. Flynn had been changed, cleaned and put to bed, and so far he hadn’t made another sound. 'How did you get him downstairs in the first place, if you don't know how to hold babies?' Richard asked, after wondering about it since he'd entered the house.

'I kind of took him under my arm and ran downstairs. But he didn't seem to like that very much. Oh and he didn't like the milk either.' Lee answered, sliding his tall body in a more comfortable position.

'I can see that. There's some of it in your hair.' Richard pointed out.

'Oh great. That must have made a wonderful impression on you.' Lee sighed.

'You don't need to make an impression on me.' Richard muttered, feeling heat rise to his cheeks.

Lee turned his head, his eyes finding Richard's. 'Thanks man.'

'What for?'

'Everything. Answering my call and coming here and helping me out. I know you don't like to give up your quiet Saturday evenings.'

_How could Lee possible know that? This was probably Aidan's doing.. Now Lee would definitely see him as some kind of weird hermit, sitting all alone on Saturday nights..  
_

Richard was still turning this information over and over in his mind, when Lee nudged his hand.

'Hello, earth to Richard. Want to watch a movie or something? I like having you here until they get back. Baby might wake up again.' Lee sounded heavy with an undistinguishable emotion, but the smile he gave Richard was heart-warming and breathtaking.

'I'd love to stay.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think of it! What were the good and bad parts? Any other comments and thoughts are also very welcome :)


	4. Chapter 4

At 11PM Richard found himself with his feet tucked under a pillow, on a couch that was not his own, in a house where he did not live, and with a man he had not anticipated spending the evening with. He still felt rather relaxed, with his head resting on the backrest of the huge couch and his eyes fixed on Lee’s face.

The evening had started with Lee browsing through Orlando’s recorded movies and programs, and they had settled for some old episodes of “the Tudors”. Richard had already seen all episodes, and Lee wasn’t really interested in them, so they had soon started themselves talking. Even though they had barely had any real conversations after their introductions, Richard felt talking to Lee was one of the most natural things he'd ever done.

At that very moment Lee was telling another story about his work on “Soldier’s Girl” and the extreme makeovers he’d been through every day while working on that project. Richard was fascinated, but he would have been just as interested if Lee had been telling about the life circle of cicadas, or about the composition of a perfect tomato sauce. He was an entertaining storyteller, with lots of funny anecdotes, and even though Lee’s position mirrored Richard’s, his eyes were still glowing with enthusiasm and his story was supported by an occasional manual gesture.

Richard sometimes had to remind himself not to stare to openly at Lee, but Lee did not seem to share that concern. When Richard was talking, Lee’s eyes kept darting from his eyes to his mouth to his hands and back, and for once Richard didn’t feel so self-conscious about himself. He felt relaxed, despite his initial nervousness around Lee, and the warm smiles Lee kept giving him encouraged him to reciprocate the signal.

‘Richard?’

Richard suddenly became aware of the silence in the room.

‘Yeah?’

‘I asked you a question about two minutes ago, but you kept staring at me without saying anything.’

‘Sorry. I was just a bit.. distracted.’

Suddenly Richard found it impossible to look anywhere but directly in Lee’s eyes, as if something was capturing him. He wanted to say something witty, but couldn’t come up with a suitable joke. He also tried to stop himself from blushing under Lee’s suddenly piercing gaze, which was also in vain. He scraped his throat.

‘Eh Lee, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell --’ Richard’s sentence was cut off by the opening of the front door. He sat straight up and had even wriggled his feet back in his shoes before Miranda and Orlando came in.

‘Hi Lee. And.. Richard?’ Orlando looked at Lee, with one raised eyebrow.

‘Eh yeah. You don’t mind do you? It’s just that I had some trouble with getting Flynn to bed again, so I kinda called Richard for assistance and I liked the idea of some company so I invited him to stay.’ Lee almost stumbled over his words in trying to get them out of his mouth. He also seemed to turn a bit red, but Richard was not sure if he felt stupid about his problems with Flynn or about asking Richard to stay.

Richard had also risen to his feet, and he felt extremely awkward just standing around. He hadn't had much contact with Orlando, so there were no funny anecdotes to refer to as a back up, and he also felt a bit like a young boy whose parents suddenly walked in on a first date, even though both Orlando and Miranda were a couple of years younger than he was.

‘Don’t worry about it man. I hope you had a good time together. We certainly had a nice night out, so I really appreciate you looking after our boy.’ Orlando smacked Lee on the shoulder with a huge grin on his face. ‘And now I’ll give you that lift, and then I’ll go to bed. Day starts early with a little one.’

Richard suddenly recovered his voice and sense of keeping a normal conversation.

‘I can also give you a lift Lee. My apartment is not that far from yours, and Orlando doesn’t need to get out again.'

________________________________________

Ten minutes later, after a couple of winks from Orlando and some more thanks from Miranda, Lee and Richard had folded themselves in Richard’s small car.

‘Thanks for getting me home. I really owe you after this night.’ Lee said.

‘No problem, I had a good time.’

_Why did it suddenly feel so awkward to talk with Lee, after sharing numerous stories during the evening?_

Richard desperately tried to think of something to bring back the easy feeling that they’d had before, while also trying to keep track of Lee’s part of the conversation.

‘Even though it was your quiet Saturday night in?’

‘I hadn't planned anything in particular, and it was nice to hang out with you.’

_Why did he have to sound so formal?_

‘It was. We should watch that costume drama thing some other time. I promise I won’t talk during the dialogues.’

‘Thought you didn’t like costume dramas?’

‘Just not all of them. “North and South” was pretty good though. You should wear those clothes more often, they look good on you.’

Richard felt his cheeks burn. He had never been able to handle compliments in a normal way, and getting one from Lee was not something he was mentally prepared for. He scraped his throat, clenched his fists, and tried a couple of times to reply, but he didn’t seem able to murmur anything more than ‘Argubbazmelg’. To keep himself from any more stupidities, he kept his eyes fixed on the road until they reached Lee’s house.

The car had come to a complete stand when Richard heard Lee shifting in his seat.

‘Did I say something wrong?’

‘What? No! No you didn’t. I’m just.. It’s just.. Just forget it.’

‘Richard.’ There was something demanding in Lee’s voice, and since he was no longer driving Richard had run out of excuses not to look at him.

‘We’ve been talking about everything all night. And now suddenly you don’t know what to say?’

‘I’m just a social blunderer who doesn’t know how to react to a compliment. Oh, and did I tell you that I always make nice situations awkward?’

‘There was nothing awkward about the situation we’re in now.’

‘It is now.’

‘Now you’re doing it on purpose.’

‘Sorry.’

There was a short but not unpleasant silence. Richard deliberately relaxed his shoulders and stiff posture, even though Lee’s eyes were still glued to his face.

‘Wasn't there something you wanted to say before Orlando and Miranda came crashing in?’ Lee’s voice was softer now.

_Oh help. Why had Lee remembered it?_

‘Ehm.. Yeah.’

_Was he really going to tell him, just like that?_

‘I just wanted to say.. that ehm.. ‘

_Maybe not just like that._

‘I really..’

Richard had never been easygoing about expressing his feelings, and confessing to another man that he might or might not be slightly in love with him was not making that easier. What also did not make things easier, was that Lee seemed to slide towards him.

‘I just..’

Lee was definitely moving in his direction. He could almost see the reflection of the streetlights in Lee’s eyes, and one heartbeat later he could feel the warmth of Lee’s breath on his own lips.

‘I..’

Richard forgot how to breathe when he felt Lee’s lips on his. The only natural thing to do was to kiss him back, which he did, carefully. It was one of the sweetest kisses he’d ever shared with anyone: it was almost chaste, but also extremely arousing. He could smell Lee's aftershave and the lingering smell of his laundry detergent. He could feel his stubble scraping against the short beard on his own chin and he could hear the effort it took Lee to keep breathing regularly. Suddenly Lee’s forehead rested against his own, and Richard became more aware of his own racing heart and deep breaths.

'I just...' Richard tried to say, once more.

‘Shh. Me too.’ Lee whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short in-between-the-fluff chapter, to give Richard some time to organise his thoughts on the whole Lee-thing ;) Enjoy!

The next morning Richard stretched his tall body and extended his arm. He felt a pang of surprise and sadness when he felt the empty spot next to him. Only when he rolled onto his left side and opened his eyes, he realised he was not at a beautiful house at a lake with Lee, where they’d had a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains, plus the advantage of being all alone (e.g. no nosy colleagues to interfere in their business).  
  
Instead, he was all alone in his small apartment in Wellington, with nothing but fleeting mental images of muscled arms and naked bodies, in a bed that looked like something heavy had trampled it during the night. A quick peek on his alarm clock showed that it was already 11AM, far past his usual wake up time on Sunday. Richard propped his pillow up against the headboard of his bed, and hoisted himself upright until he could pass for sitting up straight. He yawned, scratched his right cheek, and then finally realised why he still felt strangely excited.  
  
Last night. Babysitting. Car. Kissing. Lee.  
  
Suddenly it all came back to him. When he closed his eyes he could almost feel the stubble of Lee’s chin scratching against his own. He remembered exactly what it had felt like to feel Lee’s pulse racing in his neck when he had put his own hands there. It almost seemed like he could still smell Lee’s aftershave, like there was still clinging some scent to his own skin. He even felt a blush coming up when he remembered how eager he was to keep talking last night, when Lee clearly had other intentions.  
  
After some more gentle kissing, they had mutually agreed that it would be best if Lee got out now, so they could both go home. Richard’s body had screamed otherwise, but even his lust-clouded mind had reluctantly agreed with Lee’s suggestion. Not only did they both have some household chores that needed to be done (a result of filming 12+ hours a day during the week), Richard also had an appointment with Ian to watch cricket and have dinner together.  
  
So that’s what finally drove him out of bed at 12 o’clock. He put on a pair of comfortable old jeans and a worn down t-shirt, made himself a cup of coffee, toast and scrambled eggs. When he sat down with his breakfast, he finally dared to look at his mobile phone. He felt torn between feeling anxious about having a message and not knowing how to reply, and feeling anxious about not having a message at all. To his immense surprise, he had received six messages and two missed calls since last night.  
  
 **Thanks again for tonight. It ended even better than I’d ever hoped for :) Gosh that made me sound like a teenage girl..** – Lee, 11.57 PM  
  
 **Had a great night out with the lads: lots of alcohol and Irish music. You should come next time. See you Monday at 5. Your turn to bring coffee.** – Graham, 00.04 AM  
  
 **Also, say hi to Ian for me. Or maybe not. Don’t know if you want to tell him anything.** – Lee, 00.05 AM  
  
 **According to the latest poll I’ll be the most popular with the fangirls. Although Jimmy still bets on Dean. Seems like your golden days have passed mr. Oakenshield.** – Aidan, 02.21 AM  
  
 **Hope you slept well. I’m trying to postpone household chores by singing along to bad music and drinking loads of coffee.** – Lee, 10.36 AM  
  
 **Richard? Everything okay? Are you just sleeping in or is something wrong?** – Lee, 10.59 AM  
  
 **Missed call from “Lee” at 11.13AM**  
 **Missed call from “Lee” at 11.37AM**  
  
Richard read Lee’s messages over and over again, and then spent an additional twenty minutes coming up with something nice to say. He didn’t want to sound too clingy, but he also wanted to include a little joke, which wasn’t his strongest point. Eventually he settled for the safe and slightly boring:  
  
 **I slept perfectly fine after a wonderful night, just a bit longer than expected. Am currently enjoying breakfast but vacuum cleaner is giving me wary looks from its corner.. See you tomorrow :)**  
  
After sending the message he put his phone aside, finished his coffee, and nodded at the vacuum cleaner. ‘Seems like it’s between you and me now.’  
  
 

 

* * *

  
   
Three hours later the doorbell rang. Richard had just finished drying his hair and putting on his clothes, apparently not a minute too soon. He opened the door for Ian (or Sir Ian, as he should call him), who had brought a beautiful bottle of red wine and the first season of “Downton Abbey”. Ian handed both items to Richard, and gave him a Gandalf-esque look: ‘You’ll certainly enjoy the first gift, and you’d better enjoy the second one as well. It’s one of the best period dramas the BBC has created so far, and it’s a shame you haven’t even seen it yet.’  
  
As it turned out, Richard did enjoy watching “Downton Abbey”. After the cricket match they had opened the bottle of wine and ordered some curry from a place Ian remembered from 10 years ago. They were only halfway through the second episode when Ian suddenly said:  
  
‘Seems like you and young Lee are getting along pretty nicely, aren’t you?’  
  
Richard nearly choked on his chicken.  
  
When he tried to recover his breath, his mind started racing.

 _Is Ian talking about last night? How can he know about last night?_  
  
‘Richard, what are you so upset about?’  
  
Ian looked at him with clear concern written on his wrinkled face.  
  
‘It’s just that.. Ahm.. Lee and I.. we’re not really..’ Richard tried to form a coherent sentence without having any idea what he was going to tell Ian.  
  
‘It’s perfectly understandable that you don’t get along with everyone on set, even your respective characters will have to show some intense emotions on set. You’ll still have plenty of time to get to know him, and everything will work out just fine.’

Richard was completely baffled. He was well aware of how stupid he would look at the moment (mouth slightly open, confused look in his eyes, shoulders slumped down), but he was unable to show any other reaction.

Ian on the other hand did not miss a beat, and continued ‘Unless of course you worry about getting along a bit too well. In which case I hope you’ll have fun together.’  
  
‘Thank you. I think.’ Richard was not completely sure on how to respond to this statement, until he noticed the twinkle in Ian’s eyes.

‘Don’t worry so much about what others might think of you, Richard. You are perfectly able of making your own choices and decisions, even if those decisions might lead you down an unknown path. And now you might want to rewind the DVD for a bit, you’ve just missed one of Violet’s wonderful comments.’

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we're slowly starting to get to the better bits ;) Have fun and let me know what you think of it!

_Thorin glared angrily at the tall Elf standing before him. He had known he would have to face him again, but he had always pictured it to be in a different setting, not in one where he would be the one looking up to Thranduil. The low voice coming from the Elf was annoying and nasal, and it lacked the rich sounds of Dwarrow voices. Even though Thranduil had mastered the Westron speech years ago, it was still easy to detect a faint Elvish accent in some words; Thorin would laugh at him if the situation wouldn’t be so humiliating._

_Tired of his opponents monologue, he let his eyes wander across the hall he had been brought in. The walls were high and the ceiling was decorated with objects from the forest. The entire interior lacked the sophistication of Dwarven architecture, but it was decent enough. Not surprising, considering all Thranduil’s folk had done was dig a hole in a mountain and throw some wood in it to transform it into a royal hall. The throne behind Thranduil looked all right, although it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the throne that was waiting for him under the Lonely Mountain. All decorations looked cheap, made without the love and care Dwarves put into all their crafts and.._

‘CUT! Okay guys that’s it! Well done! Take five everyone!’

Peter’s voice echoed through the nearly empty hall. Richard felt like he suddenly regained control over his own body again. He blinked a few times, and softly shook his head from left to right. After rolling his shoulders and stretching his hands he felt like himself again. A quick glance to his ‘opponent’ showed that Lee was doing the exact same thing. Richard straightened his back, after standing in Dwarven posture for what felt like a week, while Lee seemed to deflate; he had to look taller as Thranduil and usually did so by keeping his head high and his back stretched as far as possible.

They exchanged a warm smile. Today had been the first rehearsal for their first scene together. It had been scheduled a bit unfortunate at 4 PM on a Friday afternoon, but an advantage was that they had been allowed to wear their own clothes for this rehearsal. They would start shooting the real scenes in the Mirkwood halls on Monday, but the set wasn’t even finished yet. The larger elements and decorations were in their right positions, but the floor was still littered with opened paint cans, fallen leaves, ropes, cables and other leftover attributes from the artistic team. So even though the hall was large enough to hold the entire Dwarf cast, Lee, Peter and some members from the camera teams, everyone was still moving around very carefully so they wouldn’t overthrow anything.

Jamie from catering was making her way over to Lee and Richard, offering both of them a cup of tea. After thanking her, Richard turned to Lee. ‘I think the last one was the best. You were even more annoying than during the previous one.’ Richard allowed himself to slip a playful tone in his voice, but he was careful not to overdo it. Even though he’d stolen some more kisses from Lee in the past week, he still didn't know exactly what they were doing. But he did know that there was no need to get anyone else involved at this moment.

Lee in turn gave him a quick wink, before replying: ‘Not hard to do so. I don’t think you realise how unlovable and arrogant Thorin can be when he’s angry. But I agree, we should go with the chemistry from the last take.’

They slowly and careful found their way through the mess on the floor while trying to reach the other cast members. Even though there would only be dialogue between Lee and Richard, Peter had still requested the other Dwarves to be present as well, since they would have to be there in the final scene anyway. There were only a few metres left between Richard and Jed, who sat nearest to him, when the hall suddenly went completely dark.

Someone made an act of screaming like a girl (probably Mark), while someone else swore (probably Ken). Aidan yelled: ‘Get of my foot!’, followed by a low chuckle that sounded like Dean. Other voices also added to the mix, until someone whistled, hard.

‘Shut up everyone!’ Peter’s voice boomed through the hall. ‘Yes, it’s dark. I can see that just as well as you can. But please, do nothing that might enrage the artistic team. Which is exactly what will happen if we knock anything over. Therefore I suggest we all sit very still, while I text someone on the outside and ask if they can switch on the lights again, or if they can find out what the bloody hell happened. Just stay put, it should be fixed in no time.’

Richard was pretty sure there was no safe place to sit down anywhere near him, so he decided to keep standing up. Everyone had calmed down a bit when he suddenly felt a hand on his hip.

‘Richard?’ Lee’s breath was warm on his ear.

‘Hmm?’ It was a bit hard to give a sophisticated answer while he was aware of Lee’s body being so close to his.

‘Just making sure I’m not groping someone else.’ Lee chuckled.

‘I don’t know how Americans define groping, but in my book this is just touching.’

Richard murmured back, careful to keep his voice below the audio levels his cast mates were currently producing.

Suddenly a warm hand slid under the hem of his shirt. Richard gasped for breath as he felt the fingers slide over his lower back, until the hand came to rest flat on his back. Every nerve in his body seemed to focus on the heat that was radiating from that hand, on the feeling of skin on skin. Another hand slid down his left arm, fingers spread to touch as much skin as possible. The touch was light as a feather, but seemed to leave a trail that burned like fire. At the same time Richard felt goose bumps coming up.

‘Didn’t know you were so sensitive.’ Lee’s voice came back, softer and a bit rougher than before. His lips grazed Richard’s ear, and Richard had to try very hard to stay still.

The hand on his back was slowly moving upwards, until the fingertips were nearly touching his shoulder blades. Then suddenly they descended again, with nails scratching along his spine. Richard involuntarily arched his back into the touch, which provided Lee with the perfect opportunity to slide his other hand under the front of Richard’s shirt. One hand came to rest on his lower back again, while the fingers of the other hand started teasing just above his waistband. Richard was surprised by the hissing sound he produced when one of Lee’s fingers dipped just below his waistband.

‘Still sure this is not groping?’ Lee murmured in his ear.

‘Are you always this cheeky in the dark?’ Richard replied, still trying to keep his voice down.

‘Are you always this talkative when someone touches you?’

‘Maybe you should come over and find out.’

‘Hmm I intend to.’

Lee’s hand moved to his left hip, where they found a little indentation that provided space between Richard’s hipbone and the waistband of his boxer. Just as one finger slowly slid down, Richard felt soft lips kissing him directly beneath his earlobe. He reached out with his own left hand and pulled Lee flush against his own back. He was planning on turning around and kissing him when ---

‘Richard! Lee! Are you still alive? Or did you get lost?’ James giggled about his own joke.

‘I’m here!’ Richard replied, doing his very best to keep his voice as normal as possible (e.g. not sounding like someone who’s currently being touched in a very pleasant way by a very pleasant person).

‘Yeah me too! We didn’t find a place to sit so we’re still standing a couple of metres behind you.’ Lee added.

Apparently the answer was satisfying to James, as there came no further reply.

‘So where were we?’ Lee whispered in his ear, before softly biting his ear shell.

‘I believe I was just thinking about kissing you before--’

Again Richard was cut off, this time by Peter. ‘Good news guys, the lights should be on again within a minute!’

Lee pressed one final kiss in Richard’s neck before stepping back, giving Richard a few well needed seconds to smooth his shirt down and regain a more relaxed posture.

The lights went back on and everyone blinked stupidly against the suddenly bright light. ‘I think we’ll leave it at this for today. Thanks for your hard work, and we’ll see you on set again on Monday at 8 AM! Have a nice weekend boys!’

Everyone said their goodbyes to Peter and then finally stepped outside in the warm afternoon sun. Lee had already disappeared, so Richard slowly walked to his own trailer.

‘Richard! You’re coming for drinks with us? We’re meeting at seven at the Weta Cave, John says he knows a nice place we haven’t been yet!’ Aidan yelled at him from the front door of his own trailer.

‘Yeah, sure! I’ll see you there!’

Once he was inside his trailer, he noticed the screen of his mobile phone lighting up.

 **Dinner tomorrow at my place? I’m making lasagna. I’ll make sure the lights won’t work properly.** – Lee, 5:56 PM


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After rummaging around in Richard’s head for five chapters, I thought it was about time to have a closer look at Lee’s thoughts and feelings as well. So here’s a chapter with changed perspectives, I hope you enjoy it!

Lee was sitting on the couch in his apartment. His toes were holding onto the edge of the coffee table, since he didn’t want to make stains on the freshly cleaned surface. He felt a mix of satisfaction and nervousness after all the hard work he had done in preparation for this special evening. Richard had immediately replied to his message last night, and there was a promising and playful undertone in the message that confirmed that he would come over for dinner. Despite that pleasant and nerve wrecking prospect Lee had slept like a baby last night, although that also might have been due to the heavy trainings he’d went through last week.

The long, dreamless sleep had refreshed him, but from the moment he had woken up butterflies had been tumbling through his stomach. Even the dull and monotonous household chores of vacuuming, cleaning, getting groceries, preparing food, cleaning the kitchen again, stocking the fridge, watering the plants, and doing his laundry hadn’t managed to take his thoughts away from Richard. He kept wondering what Richard would think of his place, how Richard would like the food, what Richard would say during dinner, what Richard would look like sitting on his couch, or even (was he brave enough to think about that?) lying down on his couch. Needless to say he had bumped into a couple of things over the day.

When the intercom finally rang Lee almost felt relieved.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, it’s me.’ Richard’s deep voice caused a strange echo in the intercom and a wobbly feeling in Lee’s legs.

‘I’ll buzz you in, see you in a minute!’

_Would it look very creepy and desperate if he opened the door already?_

He decided to stand right behind the door, so he could open it the moment Richard arrived. Within a minute, he could see a dark shape in front of his door. The shape didn’t knock at once, it first took some time to fiddle with its clothes and touch its head (or its hair, more likely). Finally the shape moved towards the door and knocked, almost hesitantly.

Lee deliberately counted to five and took a deep breath before he opened the door.

‘Hey.’ Richard wore a pair of worn down jeans and a well fitting black shirt that showed the trained muscles in his arms and shoulders, a leather jacket loosely draped over his underarm. The combination of the dark shirt and his dark hair brought out the bright blue of his eyes.

Lee had to resist the urge to touch him.

‘I’m glad you’re here, come in.’

Lee stepped aside to let Richard pass. The scent of Richard’s aftershave reached his nostrils, and he inhaled deeply.

‘Was it easy to find? You look really nice. I haven’t even asked if you like lasagne but most people do so I guess you did as well. Not that you are like most people. Sorry, that must have sounded weird. Oh you can give your jacket to me, I’ll put it away for you.’ Lee had started talking high-speed to alleviate some of the tension building up inside of him, even though he was fully aware that his sentences were in no way connected to each other and that his thoughts were directly flowing onto his vocal cords without interference of more intelligent parts of his brain..

‘Are you always that talkative when you’re nervous?’ Richard gave him a beautiful little smile, which went very well with the unmistakable tone of humour in his voice.

Lee looked at him sheepishly. He rubbed his foot on an invisible stain in the carpet.

‘I’m just really glad you’re here I guess.’

‘I know.’ Richard stepped to close the distance between them.

‘I’m happy to be here as well.’

Lee reached out to take the jacket from Richard’s arm, but in doing so he brushed against the bare skin of his underarm. Richard suddenly looked straight at him, with a look in his blue eyes that ensured Lee forgot how to breathe. He got a better grip on the jacket and he started to lift it, but the jacket never made it from Richard’s arm to the hallstand because Richard kissed him.

It was nothing like the sweet and endearing kiss in the car, or the swift and promising little kisses they had shared whenever they met in the hallway and there was no one else in sight. It wasn’t even comparable to the kind of happy kissing that had usually preceded sex with one of his ex-girlfriends.

This kind of kissing could only be described as making out, and Lee could only decide Richard was very good at it. Within a few minutes he had Lee pressed against the wall, holding him in place with his own body, one knee wedged in between Lee’s legs, one hand angling Lee’s head for better access to his mouth, the other hand softly grazing under the hem of Lee’s shirt, while his lips remained locked with Lee’s. He softly nibbled on Lee’s lower lip, quickly followed by little dips with his tongue, until Lee opened his mouth further to give him better access.

Lee couldn’t remember what he had wanted to do with his hands when Richard had started kissing him. He wanted to run his hands through the soft hair at the base of Richard’s skull, and grab his head to bring him even closer, or let his hands travel along Richard’s sides, or hook his thumbs in the loops of his jeans and pull him closer to his own body. He settled for one hand in Richard’s neck and the other hand on the small of his back, using both to pull their bodies flush against each other. When he felt the distinct bulge in Richard’s pant Lee felt a tingle of heat spreading through his own body.

He slowly removed his lips from Richard’s and descended along the line of his jaw, until he could press his lips on the soft spot just below his ear. When he softly grazed the earlobe with his teeth Richard tightened the grip on his arms and made a little choking sound. Suddenly he became aware of a small vibration against his leg.

‘I presume you don’t have any vibrating bodyparts?’

The low purr of Richard’s voice did wonderful things to Lee’s already cloudy mind.

‘Ehm, what?’

‘I should get that, it might be something important.’ Richard moved a little to make some space so he could get the phone from his pocket.

‘Hello? Oh hi Stephen.’

Lee started to move sideways, since he couldn’t step backwards and give Richard some more space, but Richard put his hand next to his head and slowly shook his head.

‘Really? I didn’t know that.’

Lee had stopped moving, and Richard’s hand was slowly sliding from his shoulder to his hand, while keeping his eyes fixed at Lee’s face.

‘Yeah sure, what are we getting him?’

Richard’s fingers had reached Lee’s hand, and they were now slowly moving to Lee’s side.

‘Sounds great. Let me know what you need.’

The fingers were now ghosting under the seam of Lee’s shirt. Lee held his breath.

‘Okay, enjoy your weekend. See you on Monday.’

Richard ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He gave Lee a quick kiss before stepping backwards.

‘I think it’s time for something to eat. We wouldn’t want to miss the evening program, would we?’

With a small smile on his lips, Richard walked to the living room, leaving Lee leaning hot and bothered against the wall.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we’re back to Richard! Who’s got some serious explaining to do for being so out of character ;) It just sort of happened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay! Lot of things going on resulting in me not being in the mood for writing and all that stuff.. Anyway, I just hope you like the next chapter about the progressing relationships :)

Richard tried his best to prevent his hands from shaking as he walked away from Lee. He felt torn between excitement (for being able to turn Lee into a shaking and aroused mess) and nervousness (what should he do now? _Start a conversation, or just look cool and say nothing?_ ). Since he’d woken up that morning he’d felt the strong desire to show Lee what he was made of, especially after Lee’s cheeky and daring actions in the dark yesterday afternoon. Richard had never felt brave enough to initiate something like that, but there was something about Lee that made him want to prove himself to the younger man.  
  


And Lee’s dark eyes, and the hint of vulnerability that had been shining from their depths, had been just enough to make him find his inner cool guy (as he liked to call it) and corner Lee against the wall. If Lee’s surprised gasps and crawling fingers had been anything to go by, he’d been positively surprised as well. The only downside of the entire action was that Richard was now once again a bit unsure how to act, so he decided to just look at the apartment he’d just entered.  
  


Lee’s living room was nothing like he’d imagined it would be. It was a typical male apartment: comfortable yet sturdy couch, one big chair near the window, both pieces of furniture aimed at the television at the wall. There was a dark coffee table, also in front of the television, and several magazines were stacked neatly underneath. There was a small collection of books and DVD’s in the standard bookcase next to the TV. The other furniture was just as basic: simple dining table with matching chairs, next to the open kitchen with standard kitchen utensils.  
  


What amazed Richard the most was the state of the apartment; it was perfectly tidied. From what he’d learned about Lee so far he’d expected a slightly disordered, but cosy place, littered with little personal objects that reminded him of home. Light footsteps (probably due to extensive hours of Thranduil training) showed that Lee had peeled himself of the wall and followed him into the living room.  
  


“You’ve got a nice place here. Better view than I have.” _Just try to sound normal._  
  


“Yeah it’s not too bad.” Lee still sounded slightly out of breath, and Richard couldn’t suppress a smug smile.  
  


“Although I would have liked to be a bit closer to the beach. I never lived close to the sea when I grew up, so it’d be nice to do so now.” Something of Lee’s ordinary cheerful tone returned to his voice.  
  


“Not that I’ve got time to enjoy a possible sea view at the moment. I only use this apartment for sleeping really. And for cooking dinner for special people. You hungry?” A little nudge to Richard’s arm caused him to nod. He suddenly became aware of the delicious smell coming from the kitchen.  
  


“God yes.”

* * *

 

Dinner was surprisingly easy. They talked , they ate the truly delicious lasagne, and they cleaned up the dishes afterwards. While Lee was still putting away some things, Richard was looking out the window with his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. He liked the combination of hearing Lee clatter and clang in the background, with soft music coming from the TV, and the darkness settling in outside. The light in the room had already been dimmed in preparation for the TV show they were about to watch. It had been some time since he’d felt so relaxed on a Saturday evening, even though he was now in the company of this handsome man that seemed to like him as well.

  
"D'you want coffee?" Lee's voice boomed from the kitchen.  
  
  
"No thanks."  
  
  
"Tea?"  
  


"I'm fine, thanks."

  
"What kind of Brit are you? Aren't you supposed to drown yourself in tea?"

  
"Shouldn't you be wearing cowboy boots and leather pants then?"  
  
  
“I just might. Are you done spying on the family next door?”  
  


“I wasn't sp-” Richard broke off mid-sentence as he turned around. Lee was sitting on the couch, feet on the table and his arm casually slung over the back of the couch. He was also very clearly patting the empty spot next to him, with a smile that could melt ice.  
  


“Come sit here, it’s about to start.” Richard sat down, unsure whether he was too close or too far from Lee. He also couldn’t remember what was about to start, to be honest. He vaguely recalled something about two guys ( _brothers, maybe?_ ) hunting ghosts while driving around in an old car, but it hadn’t really grasped his attention at that time.  
  


It wasn’t doing the trick now either. A quick glance to his left learned that Lee was quite interested, but he was also tickling the back of Richard’s neck with his right hand. Five minutes later Richard didn’t even pretend to watch the show as Lee’s fingers were now combing through his hair and touching the skin under the collar of his shirt.  
  


Richard deliberately stretched a little bit, before snuggling a bit closer to Lee’s side. Lee’s arm naturally fell around his shoulders, as Richard’s hand found a more comfortable position on Lee’s leg. When Lee stretched his long legs, he managed to move to the corner of the couch while pulling Richard against his body so he had to move along.  
  


When the first commercial break came up Richard’s head was lying on Lee’s chest, while his fingers were playing with the soft hairs he’d encountered under the hem of Lee’s shirt. Lee’s arm held Richard firmly in his current position and his other hand had come up to caress his collar bone.  
  


“Richard?” Lee’s voice rumbled through his chest.  
  


“Hmm?”  
  


“Look.”  
  


Richard slowly turned his head, slightly lifting himself to prevent his neck from getting too strained. Before he got the chance to ask what he was supposed to be looking at (aside from Lee’s beautiful face, obviously), Lee was kissing him.  
  


The kiss started slowly, but it grew more heated within moments. Richard was having trouble keeping up mentally, as his mind was preoccupied with other things, but he did realise Lee had managed to pull him on top of himself, while also slipping one hand down the back of his jeans. He softly bit the side of Lee’s neck, resulting in a low moan and a delicious shiver through Lee’s body.  
  


“Bedroom?”  He whispered once he’d followed the trail back up to Lee’s ear.  
  


“Yeah. This couch really isn't large enough for both of us.” The laugh that followed, vibrating through Lee's body, caused Richard's hips to grind against Lee's. Lee suddenly grabbed his arse and pulled him closer, while also entangling his hand in Richard's hair to pull him in for another kiss. With clattering teeth and smacking sounds it was a sloppy and extremely arousing kiss, causing every brain cell still functioning in Richard's brain to fire at random.

  
He managed to convince himself to stop kissing back and he raised himself on his forearms. After a soft nudge with his nose against Lee's he prepared himself to stand up.

  
"Come on."  
  


Richard tried to get up as gracefully as possible, hindered severely by Lee who tried to get up at the same time while also holding Richard close to his own body.  
  


“You might need to let me go for a few seconds.” Richard mumbled.  
  


“Not sure I want to.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains some more explicit sexual content. Don't read if you're not comfortable with that.
> 
> Besides that there's also a lot of fluff, because I can't resist writing about these two without creating romance, butterflies, awkward jokes and other cute things!  
> I hope this chapter does not disappoint you and I'd love to hear what you think of it! Thanks again for reading, you're awesome <3

Richard wasn’t sure how, but apparently they had made it to the bedroom in the end. He had some vague memories of losing his shirt somewhere between the couch and the kitchen door. Lee’s shirt got lost in the hallway.

Only when they reached the bedroom Richard took a moment to fully appraise the naked torso in front of him. Hours of training, sword practice and running had formed Lee’s body, giving him a narrow waist, broad shoulders, and well-defined muscular arms. On top of that there was the delicious smell of deodorant, sweat and arousal. Richard pressed his face in Lee’s neck, inhaling deeply.

“What are you doing?” Lee murmured, sounded amused. His fingers were following invisible trails on Richard’s back, causing goose bumps.

“Nothing..” He replied, while grazing an earlobe with his teeth. He held Lee close, so he could feel shivers running through his body.

Suddenly he felt the back of his knees hitting the edge of the bed, and before he realised what was happening he’d fallen backwards. Lee managed to stay upright, and he let his arms fall limply to his side. His eyes however were alive and full of fire; with an almost feverish look on his face he seemed to scan every inch of Richard’s exposed upper body. With a small smile that lifted the corners of his lips, Lee dropped to his knees on the bed, motioning with his head for Richard to slide up. He rested his head on the pillow, and after Lee had given him one more hungry look he slowly lowered his body on top of Richard’s.

After some teasingly light kisses on his neck and jaw Lee returned to devouring his mouth. The combination of the heated kissing, the feeling of Lee’s warm body against his, the little sounds Lee was making as Richard slid his hands down the back of his pants, it was enough to make him dizzy and aroused beyond belief.

Lee slowly started to slide himself off Richard, ending up lying next to him. He lifted his hand to caress Richard’s cheekbone.

“Would it be okay if I.. touched you?”

“Aren’t you already?” He didn’t mean to sound funny, but his uncertainty got the better of him. He certainly wanted Lee to touch him, but he was also desperately afraid to do something wrong and scare him away.

“You know what I mean Rich..” Lee’s hand came to rest lightly on the buckle of his belt.

Richard lifted his hand, cupping Lee’s jaw.

“Lee..”

Lee’s fingers had dipped just below his waistband and were now slowly stroking the skin there.

“I’ve never done something like this before. With a man.”

Lee looked at him, dark eyes meeting blue ones. There was no sign of the usual cheekiness, just a warm glow emanating from them.

“Neither have I. But I want to, with you.” There was a thrill in Lee’s voice that could either be emotion or arousal, or both. Whatever it was, it was enough to vanish Richard’s doubts.

He grabbed Lee’s head and crushed their mouths together again, while pushing his abdomen against Lee’s hand. Slightly shaky fingers undid his belt, button and zipper. When Lee’s hand cupped him through his boxers Richard had to break free from their kiss to gasp for air.

Soon, far too soon a familiar heat began to spread throughout his entire body, before pooling deep down in his belly. Richard tried to suppress it, to stall it a bit longer, but the sight of Lee lying before him, the sounds he was making, and the things he was doing to his own body; it was like trying to hold back a hurricane of sensations. He grabbed Lee’s upper arm, pressed his forehead against Lee’s.

“Lee. I’m..”

“Please.”

That single word was enough to push him over the edge. He let out a deep moan, coming from the back of his throat. He dug his fingers deep in Lee’s arm. Surely there would be some marks left there tomorrow. Lee didn’t flinch and continued to stroke him until his body was starting to relax again. He could feel the sticky substance making the fabric cling to his skin.

His deep, unsteady breath was the first sound to break the silence in the room. Richard opened his eyes again, unaware that he had closed them moments earlier. The first thing he noticed was the joyful, almost admiring expression on Lee’s face.

“That was amazing.” Lee slowly withdrew his hand from Richard’s trousers and rested it with the palm flat on his belly. He kissed him.

“You are amazing.”

“Ta.” Richard gave him an awkward smile. He was fully aware of his sweaty body, his red cheeks and deep, uncontrolled breathing. Lee didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he just pushed himself a little closer to Richard until they were almost nose to nose.

He stretched his neck to kiss him. “But how”- kiss – “about” – longer kiss – “you?” He’d started to move his hand from Lee’s face to his hip as he’d started talking, and he accentuated the last word by putting the hand on his belt. Lee’s eager nod was more than enough. He quickly slipped his hand inside Lee’s trousers and pants (luckily he wasn’t wearing a belt) and was rewarded with a loud moan. Lee looked slightly embarrassed, but that expression faded quickly as Richard started moving his hand.

He pushed himself even closer and started sucking on the same spot on Lee’s collarbone. Lee threaded his fingers through his hair and held him close so Richard could feel his entire body tensing up for his release. When Lee came, Richard couldn’t suppress a feeling of pride, looking at the wonderful man before him and realising he was accountable for that particular event.

They rolled apart from each other to give their bodies a chance to cool down. Their fingers remained interlaced, and Richard’s eyes never left Lee’s.

Lee seemed to have regained his senses.

“Wow.”

“That’s an appropriate summary of the situation.” Richard smiled, brushing some sweaty hair from Lee’s forehead.

A few minutes passed. Richard could feel his eyelids started to drop. He felt more relaxed than he’d done in weeks, and the warmth emanating from Lee’s body was only adding to that. He knew he should get up, get dressed and head home again. He did realise he had some very urgent appointments in the morning, but right nothing could convince him to move and leave his warm spot next to Lee.


End file.
